NEWS

NEWS

OFSTED CONFIRMS THAT NORTH HERTFORDSHIRE COLLEGE AND HART LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT PROVISION IS GOOD WITH OUTSTANDING FEATURES

22nd November 2017

Ofsted will tomorrow publish a further education and skills inspection report which judges the provision delivered by North Hertfordshire College (NHC) and Hart Learning and Development (Hart L&D) to be Good with Outstanding features.

The report summarises the findings of an inspection which took place from 31st October to 3rd November 2017 - only 16 months since NHC’s last inspection by Ofsted. Amongst many highlights the report concludes that:

Overall effectiveness of provision is Good – as are the quality of teaching, learning and assessment; personal development, behaviour and welfare; outcomes for learners; study programme, adult learning and apprenticeship provision.

Provision for learners with high needs, and traineeship provision, is Outstanding – making Hart L&D the proud owners of the only Outstanding traineeship provision in general further education.

Governors, senior leaders and managers provide inspirational leadership which has had a positive impact on organisational culture and delivered rapid and significant improvements in the quality of teaching and outcomes for learners.

Learners, trainees and apprentices are polite, well behaved and motivated to learn because of the inclusive, friendly atmosphere at the college. As a result they improve their self-confidence, resilience and general life skills.

Learners with learning difficulties and / or disabilities benefit from Outstanding provision which means that a very high proportion of learners excel and gain highly effective independent living skills.Of the report Group

CEO Matt Hamnett said:

“I am delighted that governors’, colleagues’ and students’ determination to improve have been recognised in Ofsted’s report. The journey of the last three years, from a tough starting position, has not been an easy one. It has been a genuine privilege to lead the organisation through that period of improvement and change – with a team that has inspired me, and our students, every day.

Our mission now is a simple one: to address our residual areas for improvement and push for Outstanding in all that we do. I couldn’t be more confident in the team’s ability to keep pushing forward and attain that high standard.”

NHC Principal Kit Davies said:

“Ofsted’s judgement is a fair, balanced one that reflects our own assessment of the quality of our provision. I am pleased that the inspectors recognised the way in which we monitor the quality of our provision – and that they could see the significant improvements we have made since our last inspection.

I am particularly delighted with the report’s commentary on the quality of our teaching, learning and assessment, our support for learners’ personal development – and on our Outstanding traineeship and high needs provision.”

“The Ofsted report demonstrates the progress we have made in a very short space of time to improve the support we provide to our learners and business customers. It is also testament to the contribution we make to the communities we serve – both through the outcomes we deliver for our learners, and through the willingness we have shown to develop specialisms in areas that serve a real community purpose.”